Over the past ten years or so, I’ve come across a handful of stories about cars that were treasured, lost, and then fortuitously found. In at least three of these instances, the vanished cars were recovered by the original owner’s offspring, who harbored fond memories of them. There’s something deeply moving about these tales, but the story of John Nikolas’s MG TD, pictured here, is particularly fascinating.
John’s father, Robert Nikolas, was a yellow-pages ad salesman working in the Metro Detroit area. And, like many of his mid-century contemporaries, Robert had several side hustles whose earnings enabled him to invest in classic cars. Many classic cars. He eventually accumulated a sizeable collection that included two MG TCs, two MG TDs, a Jaguar XK 140, a Porsche 914-6, a Ferrari-built Dino 246, a Ferrari 308 GTS, a Lotus Europa, and a V-12 Jaguar XJS.
For many years, Robert’s daily driver was he ’51 MG TD. He put a lot of miles on that little British machine. The XJS did a stint as everyday transportation, too, all the while smelling a bit like raw gasoline. It turns out that the gaseous odor was the Jag trying to tell Robert something, but he didn’t listen; one day, the English feline burst into flames at a stoplight.
That total loss was an outlier. By and large, Robert took very good care of his cars. While having his ’51 MG TD serviced in 1961, he discovered that the mechanic had a near-perfect ’52 MG TD wearing shiny beige paint and with only a bit more than 10,000 miles on the clock. Robert made an offer, and soon the pristine MG was his. That ’52 TD was too nice to drive, so it spent most of its time in the family’s Detroit-area garage.
Robert and his wife Jane were blessed with a daughter, Jennifer, and three sons, Robert Jr., David, and John. Mrs. Nikolas often said that her husband’s love of cars was a genetic flaw that his male offspring inherited, although it should be said that Jennifer is a lover of special automobiles as well. This passion was likely a result of nurture as much as nature; Nikolas’ offspring were steeped in car culture from an early age and delighted in riding with Dad in one of his many machines.
Unfortunately, not all was so idyllic, and Mrs. Nikolas sought a divorce in 1984. She took ownership of the cars and sold them, John says. Robert Nikolas Sr. maintained an interest in all things automotive and passed away in 2012.
Robert Jr., the oldest of the three, was able to buy one of the cars in 1984, the pristine ’52 MG TD. He hung onto until 2004 but rarely drove it, clocking less than 300 miles of use. With another automotive restoration project underway, he decided to trade the MG for cash in the early 2000s, and it ended up in the hands of a Wisconsin collector who specialized in survivor T-Type MGs.
The MG TD is not the most highly valued of the T-Types. That honor has historically been bestowed on its predecessor, the TC, a car that first gained a foothold in overseas Commonwealth countries (like Australia) before dominating MG’s sales chart in America. But the TD was arguably the most refined of the T-Types. It premiered in 1950 with much of the TC’s engine components but a far more substantial chassis, shortened from that of the prewar Y-type sedan. The underpinnings featured an all-new independent front suspension (designed by Alec Issigonis) and coil springs, an improved transmission, a hypoid rear axle, and the classic “T-Type” styling. The body, however, was wider than that of the TC, and enthusiasts at the time disparaged it as somewhat less than a real sports car. In truth, it was a much more competent machine than its predecessor.
The Wisconsin collector who purchased the Nikolas-family TD documented the car in great detail, but then, unbeknownst to the Nikolas family, he sold it to someone in Springfield, Ohio. That owner, in turn, sold it to a woman in Holland, Ohio. She couldn’t drive a stick shift, but she loved the car’s look, and her husband, reportedly a Mustang guy, would take her out for ice cream in the pretty MG. She had the seats and carpeting replaced, and with her husband behind the wheel, she took it to at least one car show.
Meanwhile, John Nikolas, youngest of the three brothers, regularly perused online classic auction listings. In June of 2018 he saw a TD posted on an auction website, and it reminded him of his dad’s; the car had the familiar spinner wheel covers and the same style of gearshift knob. Naturally, he called the number published in the listing and asked the woman who had placed the ad If a guy named Robert Nikolas had once owned it. When she answered in the affirmative, he asked her if he could buy it. She happily agreed, and they settled on a price of $13,000. She subsequently attempted to cancel the auction; that, of course, was a no-no.
John was geeked and called her back on the following Monday. She had to apologize for the confusion, explaining that the site doesn’t allow auction cancellations once bidding begins. John figured he’d have to do it the hard way: make sure he posted the winning bid. His final offer of $16,500 took the cake. The lady was apologetic and slashed the price to $16K flat. Thereafter, the pretty MG TD was and remains the property of John Nikolas, back home in Michigan.
John has since learned that the woman selling the car was able to verify Robert Nikolas’ ownership via extensive documentation assembled by the previous Wisconsin collector.
While the car indeed still wore the spinner wheel covers and shift knob that John recalled from the time his father owned it, the TD was missing a front-mounted spotlight that had once graced its light bar. In its place were a pair of Lucas driving lights. John called the Wisconsin collector and inquired after the old spotlight. Yes, he still had it, and happily returned the piece.
Today, the car looks just like John remembers it, and it now shares a huge garage tucked in behind John’s Michigan home with four C3 Corvettes, one C8 Corvette, a Porsche 944 Turbo, a Ferrari 348, and a BMW 335i. A lot of rolling stock, to be sure, but within norms for those afflicted with Nikolas genetics. Most important, the TD is back where it belongs—in the family.
Report by Paul Stenquist for hagerty.com
